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The Duke of URL: Trustix Secure Linux 1.2 [Review]

[ Thanks to Patrick
Mullen
for this link. ]

“Trustix, headquartered in Oslo, Norway, aims to be the leader
in Linux eBusiness Systems Management Solutions for small and
medium sized businesses. Therefore, Trustix has three core business
products: Trustix Secure Linux, Trustix XSentry Firewall, and
Trustix Xploy Linux Server Administration Suite. In this review we
will be focusing on Trustix Secure Linux which provides the
foundation for the other products. In a later review we will focus
on Trustix XSentry Firewall.”

“Trustix Secure Linux is a distribution that has one focus and
one focus only – to provide a server distribution that is secure.
There are no frills with this distribution. When you install
Trustix, you very quickly realize that you are on the business end
of the server. There is no GUI, nor are there any real
configuration tools. What you get is very close to a traditional
UNIX server.”

“According to the FAQ on Trustix’s web site, Trustix works from
the philosophy that it is easier to know what to install, rather
than know what needs to be removed. By default, Trustix has no
services running, thus relying on the system administrator to
activate the services required in the operation of their server.
This philosophy is counter to many of the distributions that are on
the market today. Most distributions come with almost all services
activated by default, relying on the user/system administrator to
close down unwanted services.”

“One of the most notable differences between Trustix and other
distributions is that there is no X Window system installed. They
hold the opinion that, on a server, a GUI would only waste valuable
CPU cycles, memory, and disk space. This would detract from the
effectiveness of the server. This is something that many seasons
system administrators would agree with. After all, why install
something that only hinders the operation of a critical business
system?”

Complete
Story

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